RallyNorth.net

Alicea's triple double lifts Lawrence

Friday, March, 04 By Jeff Hamrick

CAMBRIDGE — A season that began with high hopes before stumbling several times during the year suddenly turned bright again for the Lawrence boys, who have righted a slump that saw them lose four of their final six regular-season games.

With Jaylen Alicea’s triple double leading the way, the 15th-seeded Lancers pulled off the biggest upset thus far in the Division 1 North tournament, rocking No. 2 Cambridge Rindge & Latin 82-78. After handing the Falcons their second loss of the season, Lawrence (14-8) now travels to play seventh-seeded Westford Academy (18-3) at 3 p.m. Sunday.

“I think we’re getting better, and hopefully we’re going to peak at the right time,” Lawrence coach Paul Neal said. “We still didn’t play our best (last) night, so there’s still a lot of hope for us. But we’ve got to go to practice and work on a few things and keep going. Like I said, we still haven’t played our best yet.”

One player at the top of his game was Alicea. The senior first ignited the Lancers by scoring eight consecutive points the final 1:37 of the third quarter, helping turn a 3-point halftime deficit into a 58-50 advantage entering the fourth. Then after watching Yadoris Arias and Dawrin Pereyra combine for three treys early in the fourth, providing a nine-point lead, Alicea scored his team’s final 15 points as Lawrence held off a late Cambridge rally.

“I knew I had to step up,” said Alicea, who finished with 35 points,10 assists and 10 rebounds. “In the first half, I tried to be a facilitator and get my teammates involved. I knew I had to play good.”

After spotting Lawrence a 67-56 lead with 4:40 left, Cambridge (19-2) went on a 9-0 run to cut its deficit to 2. That’s when Alicea took over again. He hit his first free throw to cap off a three-point play on a scooping drive before scoring on another drive for a 72-65 lead. From there, the senior guard converted 10 of 12 free throws the final 56 seconds, including going 6 for 7 in one-and-one situations.

“I’m a good free-throw shooter, so I didn’t really sweat it,” Alicea said. “I was confident on those shots, and I had everyone behind me. My teammates gave me the confidence to make those shots.

“I was just thinking this could be my last game as a senior and I didn’t want to go home early,” Alicea said. “I’ve never made it out of the first round (of the North). This is the happiest thing for me. I’m going to the third round and it’s something I’ve never done. And I’m doing it as a leader for my team, and they’re all behind me.”

Forced to play a 2-3 zone much of the game with big man Jesse Hiraldo in foul trouble before getting his fifth 2 minutes into the final period, Lawrence helped its cause by forcing turnovers on 10 of 13 Cambridge possession over the third and fourth quarters.

“A lot of people don’t expect us to play zone,” Neal said. “I was really surprised how easy it was to get turnovers when we trapped. “Our goal was to play defense and things offensively off our defense.”